Audio feedback (also known as the Larsen effect) is a special kind of feedback which

occurs when a feedback loop exists between an audio input (for example, a microphone
or guitar pickup) and an audio output (for example, a loudspeaker). In this example, a
signal received by the microphone is amplified and passed out of the loudspeaker. The
sound from the loudspeaker can then be received by the microphone again, amplified
further, and then passed out through the loudspeaker again. This is a good example of
positive feedback. The frequency of the resulting sound is determined by resonant
frequencies in the microphone, amplifier, and loudspeaker, the acoustics of the room, the
directional pick-up and emission patterns of the microphone and loudspeaker, and the
distance between them.

More specifically, the conditions for feedback follow the Barkhausen criterion, namely
that an oscillation occurs in a feedback loop whose delay is an integer multiple of 360
degrees and the gain is equal to or greater than 1 (both at the given feedback frequency).
If the gain is greater than 1, then the system can start to oscillate out of noise, that is to
say: sound without anyone actually playing.

Most audio feedback results in a high-pitched squealing noise familiar to those who have
listened to bands at house parties, and other locations where the sound setup is less than
ideal — this usually occurs when live microphones are placed in the general direction of
the output speakers. Professional setups circumvent feedback by placing the main
speakers a far distance from the band or artist, and then having several smaller speakers
known as monitors pointing back at each band member, but in the opposite direction of
the microphones.

Audio feedback is usually undesirable. However, electric guitar players such as Pete
Townshend and Jimi Hendrix have used it as an audio effect, and was used extensively
after 1965 by the The Monks, first played onstage by The Who and first commercially
recorded by The Beatles on the single "I Feel Fine" released November 26, 1964 in the
UK. Used in this fashion, the artist has some control over the feedback's frequency and
amplitude as the guitar strings (or other stringed instrument) form a filter within the
feedback path and the artist can easily and rapidly "tune" this filter, producing wide
ranging effects. Artists can even manipulate feedback by shaking their instruments (in the
style of Pete Townshend) in front of the amplifier, creating a throbbing noise. More
recently, Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello (formerly of Rage Against the Machine) has
employed feedback in conjunction with a "killswitch" on his guitar and heavy use of the
whammy bar to create inventive hip hop-influenced solos.

Also note that desirable feedback can be created by an effects unit by using a simple
delay of about 50 ms fed back into the mixing console. This can be controlled by using
the fader to determine a volume level.

To avoid feedback, automatic anti-feedback filters can be used. (In the marketplace these
go by the name "feedback destroyer" or "feedback eliminator".) These electronic devices
are a multi-band parametric equalizer combined with a spectrum analyzer which applies a
notch filter to frequencies with a very high peak compared to the rest of the audio
spectrum. This can also be accomplished by an audio engineer using either a parametric
equalizer (normally found on a mixer's input channels) or a graphic equalizer (commonly
connected between the mixer's outputs and the amplifier inputs to correct acoustical
problems in a room or to address feedback issues).